President Trump has removed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and nominated Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to replace her. Trump announced Noem will ‘‘be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,’’ a new Western Hemisphere security initiative he said will be unveiled Saturday in Doral, Florida, and thanked her for her service. Mullin will require Senate confirmation to become the permanent DHS secretary.
Trump praised Mullin as ‘‘a MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter,’’ and highlighted his reputation for working with others and advancing an ‘‘America First’’ agenda. Mullin, the only Native American in the Senate, has been a vocal defender of the president and his immigration policies.
Noem, a former South Dakota governor, is the first Cabinet secretary to leave the administration in Trump’s second term. Her departure follows intense scrutiny and two days of congressional questioning about her leadership at DHS. After her confirmation, Noem became a public face of the administration’s push for large-scale deportations: she ran multimillion-dollar ads urging people to self-deport, held frequent news conferences touting deportation figures, and traveled abroad to promote the policy.
Her tenure included an enforcement surge aimed at arresting, detaining and deporting up to 1 million people a year. DHS data released last fall showed about 605,000 deportations and record numbers of people held in immigration detention. Noem also oversaw hiring increases at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and expanded Border Patrol roles nationwide.
Noem faced bipartisan criticism over several decisions and outcomes. Lawmakers criticized a Minneapolis deployment of roughly 3,000 officers during which two U.S. citizens were killed, prompting public calls for her resignation from senators including Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski. She also drew fire for labeling Alex Pretti ‘‘a domestic terrorist’’ after he was shot by two Border Patrol agents, a comment made before an investigation concluded. Legal challenges complicated enforcement plans as federal judges blocked efforts to use wartime powers to speed deportations and ordered some deportees returned.
Her leadership came under further scrutiny during budget and oversight fights. At the start of her second year as secretary, Noem testified before the Senate and House judiciary committees while DHS was in the third week of a partial shutdown; she said roughly 100,000 employees were furloughed, including staff tied to cybersecurity and disaster relief. During hearings she sparred with lawmakers over enforcement tactics, spending and management, and faced questions connected to an inspector general letter from Joseph Cuffari alleging that DHS had ‘‘systematically obstructed’’ the OIG’s work in obtaining data on immigrant arrests, airport security and counterintelligence.
Additional controversies included criticism of DHS disaster response and her appointment of Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign aide, to an advisory role. Turnover in the department has continued: Noem’s exit is the highest-profile recent departure, following earlier exits such as Madison Sheahan, a former ICE deputy director who left to run for Congress, and Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s top spokesperson. While Cabinet turnover this term has been limited so far, Trump’s first term saw five DHS secretaries, including three acting leaders.
If the Senate confirms Mullin, he will advise the president on a broad array of homeland security matters and oversee agencies including the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The DHS portfolio encompasses counterterrorism, aviation security, cybersecurity, disaster response and other domestic security responsibilities.